Dreams of Tomorrow

“Are you new?” asked a boy as he turned around and eyed her suspiciously.

“Yes.” She replied, trying her best to steady her voice.

“That’s cool. Where do you come from?” he asked again, resting his head on his hand, still looking at her.

“Europe.” She replied, feeling uncomfortable as he kept looking at her. She didn’t like it when people were looking at her more than three seconds.

“Which country?” he asked. She opened her mouth to reply but the bell saved her. She ran a hand through her hair and hoped she was going to stay unnoticed. The boy turned around, facing the blackboard.

“Okay so we have a new student.” Started the old man. She was expecting him to ask her to stand up and introduce herself but he didn’t and started the lesson straight away. She mentally thanked him and tried her best to keep up with what the teacher was saying. She wasn’t used to American. She frowned and scribbled down a word she didn’t fully understand, writing an interrogation point next to it. She would have to check that word in the dictionary once she’ll be back at home. Then she went back to writing down almost everything that came out of the teacher’s mouth. She knew it wasn’t going to be easy for her to keep up with the homework since she wasn’t fluent in English. She always had good marks in English though… but it was real different from what she read and learn in high school.

The door bell rang and she could fell the headache coming, and it was just the first class. She rubbed her temple, put her pencil case and notebook into her black backpack and headed out of the classroom, taking out her time table and looking at it, trying to figure out where her next class was. She looked at her surrounding, biting her lip as she feared she was going to be late.

“Are you lost?” asked a girl, coming her way.

She looked over her shoulder, wondering if she was speaking to her. She saw no one so she replied.

“I’m new…” she replied softly. The girl nodded and stand in front of her, holding out her hand. She handed her her schedule.

“Oh cool, we have the same class. Come on, I’ll show you around.” Said the girl with a small smile as she handed her schedule back.

“I’m Valary by the way, but you can call me Val. What’s your name?” She blinked, the girl was speaking a little too fast for her.

“I’m Athalya.” She replied in a low voice.

“Uncommon name.” said Val as she opened the door for her. Athalya nodded and mumbled a quiet ‘thank you’ as she walked over to the teacher and handed him the piece of paper she had been given at the beginning of the day.

“Welcome in Huntington High.” He said with a warm smile as he handed her the piece paper.

“Thank you.” Said Athalya as she headed to the back row of the class and went to sit next to the window. She put her backpack on the chair next to hers and took her stuff out, not looking up, trying to avoid all the curious stare of the other persons in the classroom.

It really was different from her old school. She had the same persons in all her classes except maybe for when she was studying Chinese, because not many people had taken this option, but other than that, she was with the same persons in all her lessons. Whereas in this high school, she had different students in her each classes. It was going to be difficult for her to remember the names…

She opened her notebook and took a pen out of her pencil case, she got ready to write. She tried to reckon the time difference between France and the West Coast. It was ten am here, so it would be nine pm. It was Monday, so she would be sitting on the couch, watching TV.
Her thoughts drifted back to her life in France… Maybe she was going to miss the rain?

A small smile made her way on her face at the thought but she quickly went back to the present and started to write down the lesson. When she realized it was Math. She made a face. She had always hated math. Numbers and her had never been great friends, but surprisingly enough, she found it easier in English than it was in French.

The bell rang quicker than expected. Once again, she gathered her things and glance at her schedule. Lunch break. She sighed quietly, knowing that she would have her first lunch in an American high school by herself. She headed to where her locker was located. She opened it, thinking about putting her bag in it but she decided against it and just put the algebra book in it. She closed it and followed the flow of people that were heading to the cafeteria.

She couldn’t help but wonder if it really was like in the movies. With the jock, the cheerleaders, the preps, emos, Goths, punks and everything…
She ran a hand through her hair, feeling uncomfortable. She almost wanted to give up on lunch and go outside to sit under a tree with her CD player. As she was about to turn around, her stomach growled and she knew she couldn’t escape it. She grabbed a slice of pizza and an apple before she looked around the room to find an empty table. She chose the one that was the furthest, not far from the windows. She was heading there, keeping her eyes focus on the table, but at the same time she was being careful at where she was heading, she didn’t wanted to bump into anyone and make a fool out of herself, especially if the person started yelling at her, she wouldn’t be able to understand. She wasn’t far from the table now when out of the corner of her eyes she saw someone getting up and coming her way.

Oh great she thought as she bit her lip. She didn’t wanted to be in trouble.

“Athalya, right?”

Athalya stopped and looked at the girl. She recognized her as the girl who had introduced herself as Valary.

“Yes?” she asked softly.

“Do you want to eat with me and my friends?” she asked, pointing at somewhere over her shoulder.

Athalya was pleased by the gesture but at the same time she didn’t wanted to intrude.

“Thank you, but I don’t want to intrude. I’ll just go and sit over there.” She explained, holding her tray with one hand as she pointed to the empty table.

“You’re not intruding, come on.” She said as she led Athalya to where she was sitting.

“Guys, this is Athalya, it’s her first day here so please be nice, okay?” said Val as she sat down and moved her chair a little so Athalya could sit down. She put her backpack under her sit and sat down, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks as everyone was looking at her.

“Hi, my name’s Matt.” Said the guy sitting at Val’s right. “This is Zacky.” He said pointing at the guy sitting opposite him. “The guy next to him is Jimmy” he explained pointing at the guy sitting opposite Val, “and this is Justin.” He explained pointing at the guy sitting in front of her.

“Hi.” she mumbled, looking at them before focusing back on her plate.

“So, where do you come from?” asked Val, as she glared at Jimmy who was trying to steal her pizza.

“Europe.” Athalya replied, taking a bit of her pizza.

“Really? Which country?” asked Matt, trying to look at her but failed as Val was blocking his view.

“France.” She replied, feeling the heat rose to her cheeks once again.

“That’s cool! I’ve always wanted to visit Paris.” Said Val.

“Do you eat frog legs and snails?” asked Jimmy. His voice was louder than the rest of the group and he was speaking fast, and was eating his words. She scrunched up her eyebrows, trying to replay his sentence in her head so she could answer his question.

“Jimmy, try to speak clearly, the poor girl didn’t understand you.” Said Zack, patting Jimmy’s shoulder.

“Do.you.eat.frog.legs.and.snails?” he asked, detaching each word and speaking slowly. Athalya sighed.

“I’m not stupid you know, I can understand you, just speak slower.” She said, a little hurt that he thought she was stupid just because she came from a foreign country. “And yes, we do eat frog and snails, I never tried though… We even eat pigeons, rabbits and horses.” She said carelessly, before taking an other bit of pizza. They all made a disgusted face. Athalya knew they would.

“That’s weird…” said Justin, making a face.

“Do you like, have the right to shot pigeons in the street?” asked Jimmy. Athalya smiled but shook her head. “I don’t think so, I never tried though…”

“That could be a fun thing to do!” said Jimmy, his eyes lightning up. Val rolled her eyes.

“Excuse him, he always has the weirdest idea ever.” Explained Matt, flashing her a dimpled smile which made her smile back.

“That I have, baby!” he said, grinning.

Athalya shook her head, smiling and took the last bite of her pizza before taking her apple.

“What kind of music are you listening to?” asked Justin.

“I don’t know if you have ever heard of them, but they are American.”

“Shout.” Said Zacky. Athalya raised an eyebrow.

“He means tell us.” Said Val with a small smile. Once again, Athalya felt stupid for not knowing that.

“Green Day.” She said, just the mention of the name brought a smile to her face.

“Oh yeah, they’re pretty famous here in the US.” Said Justin, nodding.

“Yeah, we heard about them, just not our kind of music. We’re more into metal and stuff like that.” Explained Val.

“Have you ever heard of AC/DC, Guns and Roses, Pantera, Misfits…?” asked Zacky.

“Hum yeah, I know a couple songs but I’m not a fan… I’m more into the punk rock kind. Like The Offspring, Operation Ivy, and most of all Green Day.” She explained, hoping her accent wasn’t too present.

The bell rang. Athalya followed everyone out of the cafeteria.

“What’s your next class?” asked Val.

Athalya took her schedule out of her back, “history…” she said.

“Cool, I have history too.” Said Val smiling. “See you guys later!” she said as she led Athalya to their next class.

The rest of the day went by pretty fast and soon the bell rang, signaling the end of the day. Her last lesson had been double history. She walked out of the classroom with Val by her side.

“I need to grab something in my locker.” Val explained, “And then I’ll meet up with the guys in the parking. Do you need a ride home?” she asked.

Athalya shook her head, shifting her backpack a little.
“No thank you, I’ll take the bus.” She said.

“Oh okay, I’ll see you tomorrow then?” asked Val, looking at her.

Allyana nodded and made her way out of the building and towards the school gates. She waited at the bus stop for the bright yellow bus to show up. She climbed in and took a sit next to the window. She took her CD player out of her bag when a boy took the sit next to her. He looked younger. She put the earphones in her ears and pressed play, letting Billie Joe’s voice filled her ears as he started singing ‘At the library’. She smiled slightly, happy that the day went by fast and that she had met some nice persons. She looked out of the window, looking at her surroundings.

Finally it was her stop and she noticed that the boy sitting next to her was getting off the bus as well.

She started walking down the street, heading to her new house.

She took out her earphones, placed her CD player back in her bag and opened the front door.

“Mamie?” she asked, looking around the hall, paying attention to any sound that might indicate her where her grandmother was.

“Upstairs!” came a voice. Athalya kicked off her shoes, hang her jacket on the pattern and grabbed her bag, walking up the stairs and then going to her bedroom. She dropped her bag at the end of her bed and then went to see her grandmother who was in her bedroom, folding clothes.

“Hey Mamie.” Said Athalya as she walked over to her grandmother and kissed her cheek. Mamie is the French word for grand mother. Her grandmother was Athalya’s mother’s mother. She had moved to the United States about twenty years ago.

“How was your first day?” asked the elder woman.

“It was okay.” Replied Athalya with a shrug.

“Did you make friends?” asked her grand mother, a hopeful look on her wrinkled face.

“I met a few persons, I don’t know if I can call them friends, but the girl was nice enough to let me eat with her friends.” Explained Athalya with a small shrug.

“I’m sure you will be great friends. What was the girl’s name?” asked Suzan, the grandmother.

“Mamie…” whined Athalya, “I know you’re friends with the whole neighborhood but please.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t do anything, I’m just curious.” Suzan replied, putting the pile of folded clothes in the closet.

“Valary.” Replied Athalya, looking up at her grandmother to see her with a small smile on her lips.

“She’s a good girl, she has a twin sister, did you know that? Michelle her name is. And she also has an older brother, I think his name is Chris.” Explained Suzan. “They live not far from here, a couple streets away…”

“Okay, okay! I got it! Thank you, but I really don’t think I’m going to show up at her doorstep. But thanks for the idea. I’m going to my room now, I still need to unpack.” Said Athalya as she kissed her grandmother on the cheek and headed to her new room, just across the corridor. She closed the door softly behind her and headed over to the window, opening it and letting the fresh breeze makes its way into the room.

Athalya sat on the edge of the bed and sighed, trying to think about where to start. She tied her hair in a loose ponytail and rubbed her face as she got up once again. She opened the closet and then opened her suitcase on the bed. She moved all the clothes from her suitcase to the closet before shutting the suitcase and putting it under the bed.

She looked at her surroundings. The room wasn’t bad, her grandmother had redecorated it just before Athalya’s arrival. The walls were a light shade a purple, the ceiling was painted in grey, and so were the closets. The bed sheets were purple and grey to match with the room. She smiled faintly. Her grandmother had put effort in it, trying to make her feel at home.

Athalya walked over to the small desk and opened the box, taking out her books and placing them on the shelves hanging on the wall. Then she took a similar box, only it was smaller and took her CDs out, placing them on the desk and throwing the box with the other one in a corner, out of her way.

She took the thick brown envelop from her nightstand where she had put it the last night and opened it, taking the papers out. It was posters. Athalya laid them on the bed and then looked around her room, trying to find the best places for each of the posters. She hadn’t brought as much as she wanted too. She put her Green Day poster, the one with the Dookie cover on the wall opposite her desk. The small Offspring poster, she hung it on the wall above her desk. And the other Green Day poster, she put it behind her door. Then she grabbed the envelop by the corners and shook it above the mattress. Pictures fell out, as well as a piece of red material and folded papers. She unfolded the papers and re-read the lyrics she had written down, lyrics of Green Day songs. She put them on the closets and then grabbed the red material. She took a corner and shook it lightly. It unfold and she bit her lip, as she climbed on her bed and went to hang it on the wall above the bed. She jumped back on the floor and took a few steps back, admiring her work.

Now with the blue, white and red flag hanging in her room, she felt like home.

She gathered the pictures that were scattered on the mattress and put them on a net pile on her nightstand. She didn’t felt like looking at them, not yet.

She still had a box unopened. She grabbed it and put it on her bed, opening it. She took out the small Eiffel tower and put it on her nightstand. She unwrapped the paper from the small purple box and put it on the other nightstand, on the right side. Athalya took the teddy bears from the bottom of the box and put them on her bed. She always had a passion for teddy bears. Yes, she was 16, but that didn’t stop her. Once the box was empty, she threw it to the corner, with the others. She starred at the 3 teddy bears and shook her head lightly. She put them on her pillow and got out of the bed, wiping her hands on her jeans and taking a look at the room. She nodded appreciatively and grabbed the boxes, opened the door and headed down stairs. She opened the door that lead to the garage and dumped them in a corner.

“All right…” she whispered, turning away and walking back into the kitchen. She grabbed a glass from the cupboard and opened the fridge, taking out the brick of orange juice and pouring some in her glass. She put the brick back in its place and sat on a stool, drinking from her glass, looking at the kitchen.

This was her home now, as weird as it may be for Athalya, she was now living with her grandmother and grandfather.

She blinked, realizing that she hadn’t seen her grandfather yet. She drank the rest of her orange juice, put the glass in the sink and made her way back upstairs, and to her grandparents’ room.

“Where’s Pappy?” she asked, leaning on the doorframe.

“He went to the mall.” Explained Suzan. Athalya nodded slowly, she hadn’t been there but she knew it would be different than the malls in France.

“Can I help you with something?” she asked, watching her grandmother pacing around the room.

“No it’s okay Athalya. Thanks for asking.” Replied her grandmother with smile. Athalya nodded slowly.

“Okay, I think I will go read in the backyard or something…” she said as she went into her room and took a book from one of the shelves.

‘The Catcher in the Rye’.

She smiled to herself as she slowly made her way down the stairs and to the kitchen, opening the backdoor. She sat on the rocking chair, crossed her legs and opened the book on her lap. It was written in English; but she didn’t mind. She bought it on purpose.

The small breeze was still there, making Athalya’s hair fall in front of her eyes. She sighed, tied her hair up again and focused on the book she had already read a few times.

She spent an hour there, reading. And not once did she lifted her eyes up to look at her surroundings.

“Athalya?”

She blinked and looked at her left to see her grandmother standing there. Athalya smiled at her grandmother and closed the book after she put the leaf she was using as a bookmark back in place.

“Your grandfather is back.” Suzan said. Athalya got up from the rocking chair and followed her grandmother back inside.

“Hey girl!” said the old man as soon as he saw Athalya coming in the kitchen. The young girl smiled and ran to her grandfather, hugging him.

“How was your first day?” he asked, kissing her cheek.

“It was okay I guess.” She replied softly.

“That’s good. Me and your grandmother have a little something for you, kind of a welcome present.” He said, turning around and taking a present wrapped up in red paper.

“You shouldn’t have…” she said, looking at her grandfather and then at her grandmother.

“Just open it!” said Suzan, smiling as her husband put the present back on the table and Athalya came closer so she could open it. She tore the paper away from the box and opened it. A huge smile found its way on Athalya’s face as she saw what was inside.

“Thank you!” she beamed, hugging her grandparents.

“We know how much you love music and we realized earlier that you didn’t bring your stereo…” explained John, as Athalya took the box in her arms and smiled brightly as she headed to her room.

She took it out of the box and set it on the nightstand that was on the right side, next to the small purple box. She went over to her desk and picked out a CD before going back to the stereo and putting the CD in the player. She waited a second and soon Billie Joe’s voice filled the room.

Now, she was okay.